October 25, 2009

Bragging Rights preview

Predictions for tonight’s WWE pay-per-view:

WWE champion Randy Orton vs. John Cena in a 60-minute Iron Match: The real question here is if Orton and Cena can prove the critics wrong and keep the audience interested for a whole hour. It will be a challenge. As for who is going to win, I feel confident that it’ll be Cena. The stipulation is that he has to leave Raw if he loses, and I don’t see him going to Smackdown at this time. I expect Ted DiBiase Jr. to get involved and cost Orton the title.

World heavyweight champion The Undertaker vs. Batista vs. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk in a fatal four-way match: This match presents the perfect opportunity to get the title off The Undertaker without him having to do a job, and that’s what I think is going to happen. I don’t see Mysterio winning the title, so that leaves either Batista or Punk. I’d love to see Punk regain the championship, but my guess is that Batista is going to win. Batista certainly seems on his way to a heel turn, although it probably won’t happen tonight.

Team Raw (DX, The Big Show, Mark Henry, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes and Jack Swagger) vs. Team Smackdown (Chris Jericho, Kane, Finlay, Matt Hardy, The Hart Dynasty and R-Truth): I agree with those who believe The Big Show is going to double-cross his team and help Team Smackdown win, which will then lead to a tag team title program between Big Show and Jericho and DX. It will be interesting to see how strongly guys such as Kingston, Swagger, Rhodes, The Hart Dynasty and R-Truth are booked in this match.

The Miz vs. John Morrison: This match between former tag team partners should be really good. Morrison has more upside, so I’m going with him.

Raw Divas (Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim and Melina) vs. Smackdown Divas (Michelle McCool, Natalya and Beth Phoenix): I think the Smackdown heels will beat the Raw babyfaces. I have a feeling Kim is going to figure in the decision in some way, either by doing the job or perhaps by turning on her teammates.

Comments

I would not be surprise if iron man match ends in a tie with no sudden death. I would like to see CM Punk get the title back and start a program with Batista. Now that Team Smackdown is better than previous team I see them beating Raw.

I think cena will loose. The stage is set to send cena on vacation. Otherwise it should have been whoever looses leaves RAW but it's only CENA so it's gonna be 'You can't see me coz i was kicked out of RAW'.

I think you're overlooking a big part of the iron-man match. With it being "anything goes/ no-dq" I think there will be quite a bit of outside interference and spots throughout the arena. I'm willing to bet there will be a segment backstage that's pre-taped to allow Cena and Orton a recovery period. I'm pretty sure the wwe put out a release that Cena wa starting a new movie soon, so i'm willing to bet he loses.
The Smackdown title match is so murky, I'm not sure who wins, just that Mysterio loses.
For the Miz-Morrison match, the smart way to book it is to have Morrison dominate, then have Miz cheat to win, which provides growth for both characters. That means, of course, that Miz will win out of nowhere.
I'd feel silly even commenting on the Divas match.
For the tag Match, I hope you're wrong, because this is a great way for the younger guys to get a rub. The four guys in this match that could really take off from here if they are given a chance are Kingston, Swagger and The Hart Dynasty. If any of them score the pin, or are involved in a major spot, it could really push them to that next level. Especially Kingston, who is so over with the fans right now.

I don't think Batista would win the title for now, I sure hope Punk get's the gold back because he needed it so bad.

I would bet my car that Cena shall defeat Orton too. There's no way I see him moving to SD for now.

And I don't care about Team RAW vs SD 7 man tag team match. The buildup isn't strong and convincing enough for me to take that match seriously. And the only match I am looking forward to is Miz VS Morrison.

WWE PPV is becoming more stale and boring, please Vince just elevate the young lions to the world title picture.
Sick and tired of seeing Cena and Taker runs around with straps.

How does Morrison have more of an upside? He can't cut a promo to save his life. Miz can't do the flashy moves but he's more competent in the ring. Just my opinion but it does sound like you feel that it's self evident that Morrison is the more talented of the 2.

Hey Kevin, do you know whether the 14-man Raw vs. Smackdown tag team match is one fall to a finish or is it under Survivor Series rules?

About the ironman match, you can be right about Cena winning a 7th Championship. However, I could see Dibiase helping Orton and costing Cena his Raw career. Think about it this way: Cena's gone through many of the top superstars on Raw, so a move to Smackdown can open up a multitude of opportunities. I'll admit that having Dibiase screw Orton out of the championship is a move that would be logical, but predictable at the same time. In my opinion, a babyface turn has to be done correctly, like Batista's in early 2005.

And also, Cena has gone close to one hour in a match two years ago with Shawn Michaels. Because of the anything goes stipulation, I'm expecting the match to resemble a street fight at times.

As far as keeping the crowd interested in a match, there is nobody better in the business than Cena at doing that. I know that people point the mixed reactions that he gets from the crowd, but I think it keeps fans interested in his matches.

I'm so tired of them putting belts on that muscled oaf Batista. Way to completely bastardize the value of the title. I have to say, the TNA title's got more credibility than either of the WWE Belts at this point.

What if M.V.P. screws team raw by attacking Mark Henry. Leading to a exciting epic between the two former teamates. In which M.V.P. comes out on top winning going on to feauding with newly crowned champion John Cena at Bragging Rights. Heel M.V.P. has always been more believable than face M.V.P. who as Jericho calls it panders to the crowd. Also i look forward to a Rey Mysterio win that could lead into a program with CM PUNK. In which punk reveals Rey's suspension. Leading to a program at Survivor Series.

Can you please talk about how the TV side of wrestling has changed over the years and the affect you think it has on the current product?

Years ago, many of us watched week after week of squash matches. Although every now and then stars would face each other (and then you knew something big was bound to happen), the only way you got to see several decent matches was to go to the shows. The little local area interview segments used to pump these up. Then Prime Time Wrestling came on cable (but they rarely if ever would show the main event from the card they showcased), Saturday Night's Main Event and the first PPV's occasionally were on, and these were all pretty much must-watch TV.

Now there are too many shows with "good matches" on TV, too many PPV's and even waiting for a PPV DVD to come out is not that bad. Separate brands probably limits the number of potential opponents as well. There's just too much lesser-quality to choose from and the incentive - for me - to watch every TV show and especially to go to a live show is just not like it once was.

How do you think all that affects the writing and the overall product these days?

1. Dolph Ziggler attacks Finlay, gets his heat back & inserts himself into the match a la Edge @ No Way Out.

2. John Cena losing.

3. Cena then joining forces with ECW to take out the winning team after its over, then turning heel saying that he didn't help out ECW to be a part of it since ECW has always treated him like crap (One Night Stand) but he did it because he felt sorry for them. That would be the ultimate rub for everyone on that show. I know its beyond far-fetched but yeah it would be cool.

4. This PPV will lead to more inter-brand rivalries, resulting for better matches on Superstars. So far, that show barely even puts on TV-quality matches, half of them should just be dark matches.

I think Orton/Cena will disprove a lot of critics (too bad many of them on here have said they aren't going to watch this match) and have a solid Iron Man match. I remember HHH/Rock had the same critiques 9 years ago. I expect Cena will win the title here, then defend against Ted DiBiase at Survivor Series; Orton gets jealous, and enter the Legacy split.

If the Smackdown! team loses, then it means nothing because they just changed up their whole squad on Friday. It would be like winning the Super Bowl against a team who did a full roster change that weekend (not that the NFL allows that, but just an example). If RAW wins, it means nothing. Not that this match means anything without stakes anyway.

I think Undertaker is likely to retain because the next PPV is Survivor Series, where Screwjobs really mean something. If his WM26 program is starting on this reign, then I expect he will lose the title next time, not tonight.

"Separate brands probably limits the number of potential opponents as well."

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I disagree. On any brand - no matter how big or small - there can only be X number of people in the world title scene, X number of people in the tier-two title scene, and X number of enhancement talent. Look at Raw: the problem isn't too few guys in the main event; the problem is that it's always the same guys in the main event. The champion (now Cena) could work a fresh program with Jack Swagger if WWE would choose to go that route. Orton and MVP could have shaken things up had Orton defended the title against MVP on a pay-per-view or two. Merging the brands wouldn't help; elevating talent would.

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